TIMMINS - First Nations within Canada have become a major factor in the county’s efforts to exploit its natural resources.

Many Aboriginal communities have parlayed their treaty rights and the government’s constitutional obligation to consult them and reasonably accommodate their concerns into a great deal of power over the resource industry as a whole.

First Nations now often hold the keys when it comes to deciding if a major mining or forestry project will go ahead or not. Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline to carry Alberta bitumen to Northern B.C. has withered on the vine in the face of Aboriginal opposition, and progress on the Ring of Fire chromite development here in Northeastern Ontario has ground to a halt due in large part to local First Nations’ concerns.

Because gaining First Nation support for projects has become so important to the future of Timmins area’s economy, The Daily Press asked the candidates of Timmins-James Bay how they would build the relationship with First Nations required to allow the resource industry to continue to grow.

Conservative candidate John Curley said the Tory government has dutifully met its obligations to consult with Aboriginal communities.

“In Canada, the government currently does consult and engage with Aboriginal communities and organizations whenever considering taking an action that could affect an Aboriginal right or title, this is a duty that is constitutionally protected.,” said Curley by email. “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, our government has taken this obligation seriously.”

This view was not shared by the other candidates, all of whom criticized the Harper government for not meeting face-to-face with First Nations enough.

“There has been a complete failure on the part of the Wynne government and the federal Conservatives to move anything on the Ring of Fire,” said NDP candidate Charlie Angus. “They did not do any of the discussions needed at the ground-level.

“How are you going to build a world-class mining facility in the 21st century if you’re not talking on the ground level to the people involved?”

Liberal candidate Todd Lever echoed that sentiment and argued that the Conservative government has been shirking its responsibility to be a bridge between First Nations and industry.

“Mining companies, whether they’re doing it as good corporate citizens or just as a good business practice, understand that any kind of resource development has to include First Nations,” said Lever. “The government has a role to play in acting as almost a liaison between the resource companies and First Nations. And right now, what we’re seeing is a consistent problem with the government not sitting down with anyone.

“If you don’t sit down with anyone, how can you expect to form these partnerships?”

Green Party candidate Max Kennedy said he doesn’t blame First Nations for playing hardball with the consultation process because, he added, the Conservative government does not have their best interests at heart.

“Quite frankly, after the way the Harper government has treated them – not the Government of Canada, but the Harper government – hell, I wouldn’t trust us either.”

When it comes to improving the economic relationship between the federal government and First Nations, Curley defended the Conservative government’s record on the issue.

“We announced our initiative that addresses key impediments to treaty negotiations, engages with Aboriginal peoples on reforms to advance reconciliation across the country, and increases investments in jobs training,” said Curley.

He also pointed out that the Conservatives have begun efforts to roll back the restrictions placed on Aboriginal people by the Indian Act.

“For example, the First Nations Land Management Regime gives those who opt out of the 34 land-related sections of the Indian Act, the ability to develop their own land codes in order to have more control over their own land and resources, and to take advantage of economic development opportunities,” he said.

The other candidates argued that the federal Conservative government’s relationship with First Nations is fundamentally broken. Repairing it, they all said, starts with talking more directly with First Nations, that the government needs to make an honest effort to try and fix the long-standing social issues facing Aboriginal people in Canada, and to make sure resource projects meet First Nations’ economic and environmental requirements.

Angus said the NDP has already gotten a head start on talking to the First Nations involved in the Ring of Fire development, by hiring a former leader of the Ontario NDP, Howard Hampton to meet with them and hear their concerns.

“We believe that we need to speak and build relationships and get these projects off the ground,” said Angus.

An NDP government would also reduce the uncertainty First Nations feel about resource projects such as the Ring of Fire by committing money to the job training and infrastructure needed for them to take advantage of the developments economically, he said. They would also make sure that all projects meet communities’ environmental requirements.

“In the 21st century, you have to meet the environmental obligations, that’s how business gets done. The days where we dump tailings in lakes are over,” said Angus. “What’s frustrating is you heard the province talk a big game, and Tony Clement say he was going to be the champion of this, and then delivered nothing.”

Lever said if the Liberals are returned to power next month, they will focus on building a respectful relationship with First Nations by increasing the infrastructure and funding for both education, health care on reserves, as well as having a public inquiry into murdered and Aboriginal women; something the Conservative government has repeatedly resisted holding.

“If you’re looking to partner on resource development, they’re going to want their other issues addressed. That means having a commission on missing and murdered indigenous women; addressing the historical problems and partnering for the future,” said Lever. “To me personally, the success for the future of our riding is in forging these relationships with First Nations.”

A Liberal government would also match the provincial funding for the infrastructure needed to make the Ring of Fire development a reality.

“We’re prepared to put our money where are mouths are so we can have development down the road,” said Lever.

Kennedy said the key to improving the government’s relationship with First Nations is to rebuild trust.

This, he said, could be done by addressing the lasting historical wrongs against Aboriginal people by holding a missing and murdered women inquiry, bringing education funding per student to a parity with the rest of the province, implementing the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and finally putting to rest the various land claim disputes that have been ongoing for decades.

“If they can’t trust us, they have no reason to cooperate,” said Kennedy. “So first, we need to build that level of trust, so when we say something will happen, they can trust that it will. This has to be item No. 1, because without it, nothing else can go forward.”

The next step, said Kennedy, is to make sure that all agreements between the government and First Nations respect the environment or at least require a plan and funding put aside for restoring the environment to its pristine state afterwards.

Lastly, to help make major projects more attractive, Kennedy said Canada should take a page from Norway’s oil revenue fund, and put a percentage of the profits from developments such as the Ring of Fire towards a fund for the First Nation to use as they please.

http://www.timminspress.com/2015/09/15/candidates-discuss-bridging-gap-btw-industry-fns